Sherlock Holmes Goes to Scotland

Something I didn't know: Although Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh and studied medicine at the university there, none of the original Sherlock Holmes stories take place in Scotland. That has changed with publication of The Italian Secretary, not just a new pastiche on the original series of Holmes tales, but the first one ever commissioned by the Conan Doyle estate. The novel by thriller writer and historian Caleb Carr thus will be the first "true" Holmes adventure to appear since the death of the detective's creator in 1930.

Described as “a further adventure of Sherlock Holmes”, the book is set in 19th-century Edinburgh and sees the detective and his companion Dr Watson summoned to investigate a spate of murders at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the queen's official residence in Scotland.

According to an editor at Little Brown Publishers, “The book respects Conan Doyle’s style. Caleb picks up on hints that are contained in the original novels. He has always been a real fan of Conan Doyle’s work. Though he was meticulous in his research of the details, such as train timetables, there really was very little that he didn’t know about the books beforehand.”

Read more here (from The Sunday Times of London).

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